ANA expands partnership with Amadeus

February 15, 2023

All Nippon Airways (ANA) has extended its collaboration with Amadeus, where the Amadeus Altéa Passenger Service System (PSS) will continue to support all ANA international flights across reservation, inventory, ticketing, and departure control.

The collaboration will bring flexibility and personalisation capabilities to the airline, which will be implementing new digital, pricing and payment proficiencies to provide a seamless experience for its customers, such as faster check-in and the automated application of their preferences at every touchpoint during their journey.

The Amadeus Altéa Passenger Service System will bring all international and domestic ANA flights onto a single platform

All ANA domestic flights will also be migrating onto Altéa, including the domestic airlines currently hosted on ANA’s in-house PSS system. Amadeus’ technology will bring ANA and these airlines onto a single platform, enabling the airline to decommission its in-house PSS system by 2026.

The Altéa PSS will be the key touchpoint for ANA’s domestic and international flights operations. The airline will be able to optimise its existing and future operations, allowing ANA to achieve a higher level of customer experience management.

“This agreement is a step-change for us in our digital transformation journey to further improve our operational efficiency,” shared Sammy Aramaki, chief innovation officer, ANA.

“For the past 34 years, we have had separate passenger systems for international and domestic flights. We’ve already seen the benefits of Amadeus Altéa PSS with our international business, and we’re excited to bring our domestic flight operations onto the Amadeus system.”

Javier Laforgue, executive vice president, travel unit & managing director, Asia-Pacific, Amadeus, added: “We believe this agreement is a further step towards modern airline retailing and an example of the collaborative approach we at Amadeus take with our customers.”

PAL resumes flights to China destinations

By TTG Asia

February 15, 2023

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is relaunching its top routes to mainland China with the opening of direct flights to Shanghai (Pudong) on February 14 and Beijing on February 21.

Both destinations join Xiamen and Guangzhou (Canton) in the roster of PAL’s mainland Chinese destinations.

PAL will resume flights to Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen and Guangzhou in China

The airlines’ Manila-Shanghai-Manila service will operate initially with three flights per week from February 14, then increase to daily flights from March 26.

Starting February 21, Beijing services will depart every Tuesday and Friday.

In addition, PAL is increasing its Manila-Xiamen-Manila flights from once weekly to thrice weekly starting from February 25; and its Manila-Guangzhou-Manila services from once to twice weekly starting February 16, progressively adding frequencies to reach a full daily service by March 26.

In March, PAL will offer flights to Jinjiang on March 19, 22 and 24, then increase to daily flights from March 26; while twice weekly regular flights between Manila and Macau will be restored from March 26.

Marketplace MG Bedbank poised for continued growth after stellar 4Q2022

By TTG Asia

February 15, 2023

B2B hospitality marketplace MG Bedbank has achieved record levels of business in 4Q2022, with hotel sales more than 50 per cent above the same period pre-pandemic in 2019.

The strong performance was not limited to the home market of Indonesia (up 95 per cent), as bookings from across South-east Asian markets accelerated far beyond pre-pandemic levels. Star growth markets for MG Bedbank in the region included Vietnam (up 278 per cent) and Philippines (up 139 per cent).

MG Bedbank’s bookings from across South-east Asian markets accelerated beyond pre-pandemic levels in 4Q2022

Said MG Bedbank’s president director Brett Henry: “Our focus on technology and differentiated service has paid off, as we’ve been able to outperform the industry during the recovery. The investment we made during the pandemic to design, develop and deliver our hospitality-specific B2B marketplace platform, MG Jarvis, has been instrumental in driving this growth.”

“MG Bedbank has been a valuable partner for us,” shared Chris Legaspi, vice president commercial of Archipelago International. “Their partnership-based approach and new technology platform have allowed us to accelerate B2B sales throughout the recovery.”

MG Bedbank’s commitment to providing innovative technology solutions and exceptional customer service has been key to its success, and the company is poised for continued growth in 2023.

Family vacation at The Danna Langkawi Resort & Beach Villas

By TTG Asia

February 15, 2023

The Danna Langkawi Resort & Beach Villas is offering families a fun bonding time this school holidays, with a special experience for the little ones.

Book any of the resort’s special offers and upgrade to the signature Danna Jr experience for an additional 250 ringgit (US$57) per room per stay. Kids will enjoy exclusive welcome amenities, a kids’ sleeping tent with lanterns, colouring book, beach play set, plush toys, sweet treats, and access to curated kids club activities.

Kids will delight in the signature Danna Jr experience which comes with a tent, plush toys and more

Have a splashing good time at the three-tiered infinity pool with a dedicated kids pool, or have a go at jet skiing, kayaking, riding the eco-friendly Ceclo electric pedal boat, or snorkelling.

Complimentary bicycles are available for guests to explore the sights and sounds of Langkawi, such as enjoying the scenery at Panorama Langkawi, visiting the bustling night markets, hiking to hidden waterfalls or going on an organised mangrove river cruise.

For more information, visit The Danna Langkawi Resort & Beach Villas.

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February 15, 2023

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Travellers spending more on premium-class travel

By TTG Asia

February 14, 2023

The latest ForwardKeys data reveals that many travellers are willing to spend more on travel services such as premium cabins after being unable to travel longhaul for an extended period due to Covid-19.

This is good news not only for the airlines but also for destinations and tourism-related businesses – as travellers arriving in premium-class cabins are likely to spend more on the ground too.

With many destinations and markets remaining closed during the pandemic, travel preferences have changed, and the luxury travel segment reconfigured. For example, Japan, China and South Korea – all in the top 10 premium travel markets in 2019 – dropped down the rankings in 2022 due to their cautious approach to managing Covid-19. However, the Japanese and South Korean luxury markets are expected to see a comeback in 2023 now that both countries have reopened to international travel.

While the Far-Eastern countries have slipped down the rankings, two other Asia-Pacific markets that reopened earlier, Australia and India, have shown resilience. The former has maintained its premium market share in 2022 as compared with 2019, while the latter has marginally improved its share.

By volume, the US and Germany are the largest premium travel markets. But what matters for destinations when gauging the economic impact of various markets is the proportion of visitors travelling in high-end cabins, such as business and first class as opposed to premium economy. In that respect, the US, the UK, France and Canada appear to be the most affluent source markets, therefore offering better value per traveller.

Peach Aviation broadens network in Asia

By Kathryn Wortley

February 14, 2023

Peach Aviation is expanding its international flight network with the launch and resumption of services between hubs in Japan and other parts of Asia.

The low-cost carrier will start its first international route from Nagoya’s Chubu Airport (to Taipei) on March 27, which will be operated seven times a week.

Peach Aviation has accelerated the resumption of international flights since August 2022 (Photo: Peach Aviation)

Announcing the Nagoya-Taipei route, Peach’s representative director and CEO Takeaki Mori said: “We are very happy to finally make this happen as we have received requests from many people to operate international flights since we started service at Nagoya (Chubu) Airport in 2020.”

Another route to Taiwan (Osaka to Kaohsiung), which has been suspended since the outset of Covid-19, will resume on August 1 in response to the recovery of Japan’s inbound tourism market.

Peach has accelerated the resumption of international flights since August 2022, beginning with services from Osaka and Tokyo to Seoul, followed by flights from Osaka, Tokyo and Okinawa to Taipei. Its Osaka-Hong Kong service was restarted in January.

Mori noted that Peach now serves the most routes from Japan to Taiwan of any Japanese carrier, adding: “Peach is committed to contributing to the revitalisation of the Japanese economy while promoting interaction between people to liven up the Asian region.”

Still to come is the expansion of the airline’s first medium-haul route between Osaka and Bangkok, which was launched in December 2022 and will be operated daily from summer 2023.

A spokesperson for Peach said the airline “will continue to place the highest priority on safe operations and through infection control measures” and hopes to support Japan via flight provision as it prepares to host Expo 2025 in Osaka.

Peach currently operates 31 domestic routes and 17 international routes with a fleet of 32 aircraft.

Vietjet restores Ho Chi Minh City-Hong Kong services

By TTG Asia

February 14, 2023

Vietjet has relaunched its direct service connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong.

The service will fly twice weekly on every Monday and Friday, with a flight duration of three hours.

Vietjet will operate twice weekly flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong

Vietjet also operates flights to destinations such as Australia, India, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

THAI to fly to China in March

By TTG Asia

February 14, 2023

From March 1, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) will operate 14 weekly flights to five destinations in China.

With all return flight operations departing from Bangkok, the airline will fly to Kunming every Friday and Sunday, and to Guangzhou on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.